This invention relates to forage harvesters of the type having a rotary reel type cutterhead in which crops previously harvested or gathered by an associated header are finely chopped to produce silage and, more particularly, to an attachment therefor for assisting the discharge of the crop from the cutterhead housing when a recutter screen is utilized in conjunction with the cutterhead for chopping certain types of crops, such as ear corn.
It is previously known to provide a forage harvester of the type described with a recutter screen attachment for use in grinding ear corn silage, as well as for certain other crops, such as haylage, whole corn silage, oat silage, etc. Such are illustrated, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,525,375, 3,566,943, 3,829,030, and 3,946,954. However, a problem which may occur in a machine normally designed for use without a recutter screen is that certain types of chopped material, such as ear corn, may tend to pile up on the floor of the cutterhead housing forward of the crop discharge mechanism.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention described herein to provide an air flow across the floor of the cutterhead housing of a forage harvester having a recutter screen to ensure the movement of chopped material into the discharge mechanism.
A more specific object of the invention is to provide an auxiliary baffle sheet for use in conjunction with a forage harvester recutter screen wherein the baffle forms, with the bottom and sides of the cutterhead housing, an air duct for directing a stream of relatively higher velocity air along the floor of the cutterhead housing in the area of discharge of crops from the recutter screen.
The above objects and other objects as will hereinafter be seen, are specifically met in a forage harvester having a mobile main frame, a cutterhead housing mounted on the frame having a crop inlet and a crop outlet, a rotary reel cutterhead of the type having a plurality of peripherally disposed knife edges, a recutter screen mounted adjacent the cutterhead periphery on the crop outlet side for processing substantially all of the crops, and a discharge mechanism including a crop blower for generating an air suction in the outlet of the cutterhead housing. A transverse baffle sheet is disposed within the housing in spaced relation from the floor to define the upper side of an air duct separated from the operative region of the recutter screen and extending from beneath the cutterhead into the area of discharge of crops from the recutter screen for the purpose of directing the inlet air across the floor of the cutterhead housing to the discharge mechanism. The baffle is preferably angled downwardly rearwardly in a manner to increase the velocity of the air stream exiting the duct.